Remembering
by Random Jelly Beans
Summary: A September 11-based fic. BASED. Don't kill me if it's totally wrong ;-; T for mentions of death and suicide. No language, though... Claire remembers back all those years ago today...


**Hehe, I wrote another oneshot in Geometry class today. Seeing as how it's September 11, I figured I'd write a fic about it... Please keep in mind, that not only was I like six when the actual event happened, but I live in Southern California, so my idea of how things happened is only based of the news footage I saw on this morning O.O;;**

**ALSO, I totally dramaticallized Claire's background. I really think that wouldn't happen in real life. It's in there just for the story's sake XD  
**

**Please take no offense to anything in here, even though I don't think you would... I just always say that when I write about something that people can form opinions on ;**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of it's characters. God bless America :D**

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Claire sat on her field, bathed in the darkness of the warm early-autumn night. She glanced around at her just sprouting yam crops and sighed. As she studied the deep navy sky, counting the sea of small bright dots, she felt the awful memories resurface in her head.

She just sat, staring; remembering what happened those years ago when she had only just started her first day of Junior High…

_The young blonde girl walked timidly into her first class and took a seat towards the back of the room. She glanced around the near-empty area, noticing only two other students sitting on opposite sides of the room, most likely new students like her. She sat quietly still as a group of pink dress and legging-clad girls sat surrounding her, speaking loudly-and obnoxiously-to each other. The quiet blonde girl watched them solemnly as they chatted and laughed. The girl glanced down at her own clothing after realizing how fashionably the others were dressed, and scowled slightly at her attire: hand-me-down jeans from her older sister and a plain, baggy white T-shirt._

_The girl sighed. She didn't want to go to this new school where she had no friends, but her mother had told her it was for the best._

_Unfortunately the blue-eyed blonde had complied, so there she was, sitting alone and miserable._

_The teacher finally walked into the now-filled room, which caused the girls around her to hush their conversation down to a whisper._

"_Hello, class. I'm Ms. Carthrage. Let me take roll and record your seats on my chart before I start," The teacher picked up a clipboard and a pen as the blonde sighed. She was going to be stuck next to the Talkative Trio (as she now called the girls next to her) for the rest of the trimester._

"_Claire Johnson?" The teacher called as she scanned the room for the child who would raise their hand and confirm that that indeed was their name. The blonde girl fixed her eyes on her old sneakers._

"_Here," She called very quietly. The teacher didn't seem to hear, but before Claire could repeat herself, the entire class heard an almost deafening crash._

_Claire could feel her eyes widen as she heard the girls near her scream. The teacher looked absolutely flustered as she scrambled over to her phone on her desk, most likely to call the main office and ask what happened. Claire noticed half of the class scuttle over to the window, so she followed suit._

_As she pushed her way up to the front, she couldn't help but let a scream escape her lips._

_There was a huge, billowing cloud of black smoke rushing down the street towards the school like a tsunami would down an alley, swallowing up anything and everything in it's path. The sounds of crashing and thunder-like booms echoed through her ears._

Claire shuddered and fidgeted uncomfortably on her spot in her pasture. After theses years had passed, she'd recovered almost completely from the entire ordeal. Of course she wasn't even nearly as shaken as everyone expected her to be. She was only in the seventh grade, after all.

The blonde farmer frowned deeply as she remembered how that day changed her life completely.

Claire jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder, disrupting the calmness of the evening. She turned around and looked up at the young blacksmith towering over her. She sighed and shrugged his hand off as she spoke.

"Gray…" She smiled weakly, "Hey…"

"Hey," The man replied, sitting down next to the farmer, "What're you doing out so late? There are wild dogs out here, you know. It wouldn't be very good for Mineral Town's image to have our 'newest resident' mauled by a pack of dogs," He explained. Claire knew he didn't care about 'the town's image'. He just cared about her.

"I was just thinking…" Claire said, her gaze still fixed on the sky.

"About what?" The blacksmith inquired. He immediately regretted asking, though, when he saw the pained look seeping out of the girl's blue eyes.

"Just… About today," Claire said, "Or at least today a few years ago…"

Gray was confused now. He'd come to know the new farmer very well, and she'd gotten to know him as well, but Claire hadn't shared all that much about her past with anyone in town yet; even him.

"…What happened…?" Gray asked cautiously, and Claire's stare shifted over to his face and they locked eyes. Gray furrowed his brow worriedly when he saw the clear tears in his friend's eyes. They magnified her sapphire orbs until the streamed down her cheeks after she fluttered her eyelashes. She looked like a lost puppy: desperate and scared.

"Gray…" She whispered, "What is today?"

Gray was slightly shocked at her seemingly-random question, though he still answered, "Fall fourth, why?"

Claire swallowed hard and blinked more tears away silently before responding, "Back in the city I'm from, today is September eleventh," She explained, barely audible, as she was holding back tears as best as she could. Gray had no clue what significance this had, being that he had left the city years before anything memorable happened on this day. Claire continued, probably knowing that Gray wouldn't realize the date's importance, "Years ago on this day… Awful people did awful things to some of the buildings where lots of people worked in my city… And in the process… They killed my father," Claire said slowly, as if straining to recall the events even though they were crystal clear in her mind.

Gray was at a loss for words, so Claire continued, "And on the same day… Other awful people hijacked an airplane my Auntie and big sister were on… The passengers had to keep the plane from crashing into an important building, so… They crashed it into a field… and gave up their lives," The poor blonde said; her tears becoming harder to control, "Then my mom just didn't… Didn't want t-to keep going… I guess… S-so sh-she c-comitted s-s-suicide while I-I was a-at s-school, s-so when I g-got h-h-home…"

Claire was sobbing at this point, and Gray had no idea what to do. He sat there awkwardly; racking his mind for anything he could do to make her stop.

"I had no idea… Shhh, Claire… Um, please stop crying…" Gray attempted to soothe the blue-eyed farmer. She looked up at him and smiled sadly.

"Thanks for trying," She whispered, shaking her head, "but… Sometimes I just need to cry… At least I remember my family, right? …But when I think about it, there are hundreds-maybe even thousands-of people like me who lost someone," She said, obviously realizing this as she spoke. She sighed and wiped off her face, the tears finally ceasing to flow. She looked at Gray apologetically, "Sorry for getting all emotional on you." She said with a laugh.

Gray sighed in relief. Claire was back to her old self, and not crying hysterically next to him. "No, don't apologize. It's not your fault. …I just can't believe that actually happened to you and your family. It's… It's unbelievable! How can you possibly put up with having that memory?"

Claire's eyes were fixed on Gray's face, but she seemed to be looking off far away when she spoke, "I don't mind it. You have to remember these things sometimes, to prevent other things from happening in the future, I s'pose… It's important to remember."

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**:D Review, please! Tell me if you were there, or something, if you like... Again, sorry if my idea of how things happened is totally off. I guess it's called fan_FICTION_ for a reason, right...?**

**God bless America**


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